Overdose awareness: Saving lives

International Overdose Awareness Day is coming up on Saturday, Aug. 31, and is the world’s largest annual campaign to end drug overdoses and remember those who died as a result of overdoses. The campaign stimulates action and discussion about evidence-based prevention and drug policy.

In observance of the month, the UHS Addiction Medicine Department has worked to raise awareness without stigma and to acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind. The Addiction Medicine team also offers overdose prevention training and free naloxone to interested patients and community members throughout the year, with an extra emphasis during August.

Drug overdose is the No. 1 cause of unintentional death in the United States and accounted for 107,543 deaths in 2023. The main driver of these deaths is opioids — including prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl and its analogs.

People who take prescribed opioids, even as directed, may build up a level of tolerance. When pain has subsided, some people find it easy to stop taking them, and others find it harder to quit. Some people who find it harder may continue to take opioids longer than necessary or could develop an opioid use disorder.

There are some steps you can take to help keep yourself or your loved ones from misusing an opioid prescription:

• Take your medication as directed by your provider. Do not change the dose without speaking with your provider first.
• Tell children not to take other people’s medications.
• Learn about safe storage and safe disposal of medications.

To make medication disposal easier, UHS facilitates a medication drop box program. It is important to understand that disposal by flushing is not recommended for the vast majority of medicines, which is why it is important to dispose of the medication properly using this program. Getting rid of these medications lowers the risk of them getting in the wrong hands. For more information, including a list of drop-off locations across the UHS service area, click here.

To help reduce the number of opioid overdoses in our community, the UHS Addiction Medicine Department runs a New York State Department of Health-certified opioid overdose prevention program. Our team provides overdose prevention training and has available naloxone (Narcan®) for all patients across our department’s care continuum, in addition to patients in several inpatient and outpatient medical settings. We also host training classes for individuals and groups across Broome County. These free services are available to the public over the telephone, or you can schedule a prevention training by calling 607-762-3122 between the hours of:

• Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The training includes several topics, including how to respond to opioid overdose and how to use and get a refill of naloxone (Narcan®) through the UHS Program.

All UHS outpatient pharmacies also offer free naloxone to patients prescribed opioids.

In addition, the New York State Department of Health, Prevent & Protect and the Harm Reduction Coalition have several opioid overdose prevention resources available to the public as well.